Having a fit first 17 for most of the season changes your mental approach, there was also a heck of a lot of pressure on LR to perform this year.
Due to that even though rotating players more than he did could have actually benefitted us MORE during the regular 23 games and definitely in the S8s without having an effect on the CC run he didn't, he couldn't risk it in his eyes.

Those back up squad players are able to give more than a fatigued first 13/17 player, this was apparent a few times in certain games BEFORE the S8s There was also a lack of actual minutes for some of those even when they were selected, especially the forwards which is were we were effected most in the final third of the season.
This is inexerience combined with fear factor, fear because if you lose, it's because you rested too many, there is no sure fire way of knowing, however the end result showed that the forwards were very fatigued and a once dominant pack tailed off (by comparison to our earlier performances) quite considerably.
Trying to say it was all down to Wembley is really not accurate, it will have had an effect, it's an extra game, it's the celebration afterwards, however Warrington played vastly better in the 8s than we did and come the decider even without some of their better players we were run ragged. If having a few shandies was that big a difference maybe the coach should be saying no celebrations until after season end, then get blotto'd.

Now that LR has a win in the bank there is a huge amount less pressure on him so maybe he will trust more to the youth and balance things out for next season. By his own words he must realise that continually playing your best 13/17 players all the time isn't always the best solution to get the best end results.

Indeed. A few on here advocating best 17 week in week out regardless, ultimately that may have cost us. And the player most in need of a break is our only England player also.

Up the Cream are reporting that Michaels has now signed his new contract so hopefully an official announcement on that from the club soon.

Used to make me laugh when people on here say always play your best players barring injury. They can't have realised players burn out, until it finally showed towards the end of this season. Players need resting, it's just figuring out when to test certain players to keep the teams momentum going and not shake the team up to much. Need to find the correct balance.

Hindsight engineering...

Lets hope for plenty of injuries next season then

No it isn't, it's a fairly known situation, we see it every season, players that have had lay-offs come back fresh, forum members state this all the time. You also see the very best players dropping off tackles where before they weren't, Danny H and Ellis in the Warrington match on 7 minutes where they missed the tackle that led to their first try both looked absolutely spent...after 7 minutes!
The drop off was creeping in long before wembley, we scraped a few wins here and there and a fair few players looked very jaded.
it's not hindsight, it's about balancing things and understanding that your 2nd choice/younger squad member is very likely to last the full 80 as opposed to your first choice but knackered/maybe carrying a slight knock player who can't and won't perform as well due to fatigue/potential niggly injury.

That's an aspect that LR just has to manage better for next season, he has to start trusting to the younger players for some games otherwise their development drops right off (which we've seen to an extent already) or they get ed off at not getting a chance and that when they do get a chance they aren't anywhere near match fit or psychologically ready. look at JA in the Widnes match, he actually did ok but it was his first game of the season, he was then thrown in at the back end with not many games under his belt anywhere. For a half that is extremely difficult, for a forward not so much.

Anyway, let's hope we do have some of the youngsters getting more game time and not because we have injuries but are pro-actively managing fatigue with the goal of still wanting to retain the CC/staying near the top of the table but also finishing the end of the season much stronger than we did this year.

That's not what he was saying. He's saying that rather than play our strongest team every game and suffer the risk of burn out at the end of the season, that we need to rotate better and simply just rest players from time to time. Rotation doesn't have to mean injuries.

... the trick with rotation is not to lose games when you rest key players. Dead easy I'm sure.

Then the obvious thing to do is choose the matches you think are possibly easier than others. Unless our younger players get match time then they're never going to be ready. I don't often agree with Bumpy but on this he's absolutely spot on.

.... I don't disagree, but last season we lost 3 games (out of a total of 6) to Leeds and Huddersfield, who would probably have been classed as "easier" games. That's with or without resting players.

It's a risky business unless you're playing really well.

(If we'd happened to win 2 of those games against Leeds and Huddersfield, we could have rested every single player for the super8 games against Castleford, St Helens, Wigan and Warrington (as we lost those games anyway) and still finish shield winners.)

It's so easy with hindsight.

Exactly, we might not off won the games if we didnt play our srongest team when possible, fair enough easter weekend needs rotation. But im sure proffessional very fit sportsman can handle a game a week if uninjured. Think we simply lost a bit of motivation after the euphoria of wembley

I'd hope that next season we'll get to see more of Turgut, Logan, Abdull and even the likes of Fash, Downs and Matongo. A loan deal for Litten would be good too.

Well done in completely not actually reading what I wrote

These lads bodies are screwed by the end of the year. Being fit helps but when it's bust up it needs recovery. That can't happen in a 5 6 or 7 day window
Taylor was done in by the end of year particularly.
In the league leaders game Taylor Houghton n watts made a combined 130 metres...Worst stats of the year in 1 of our biggest games. Defo a degree of burn out involved. Probably accelerated by wembley and the emotional element that came with it

I wonder if the HB could be a former team mate of Pritchard...

Off quota and a rep player...

Trent Hodkinson???

He'd had talks with Wayne Bennet in the summer about possibly turning out for England at the 4 nations, with an English father the qualification would ok but not sure how that works regarding a quota space.

Might hold an English passport due to his father, therefore is eligible to work in the UK..
and off quota.. maybe???

Assuming that he has an English passport, he would not count as one of the five quota players a club is allowed.

However, since he has not played in England before, he would count as one of seven non-federation players a club is allowed. (A player is federation trained if they have spent 3 years at an RFL club before the age of 21)

Correct and if we sign Michaels, then we have no non fed places available.

Linked today with Kevin Naiqama, again for this to happen an overseas player who have to be released if Michaels is kept.

Up the Cream reported on Friday that Michaels has signed the contract so it seems that on that front we are just awaiting the official announcement from the club. Which would mean, as you say, that someone else would have to be leaving. Or that we've found some loophole to get around the non-fed/overseas issue.

I'd be disappointed if we use 3 quota spots on wingers.

Michaels is only for one season

People thought this when he signed and is now into his 3rd season, waste of a quota space to have three wingers when it could be better used, if we sign Brough then maybe it would be ok.

4 if you include Fonua! If Michaels has signed, I'd be very surprised if this came off.